The More of Less: A National Bestseller (and What the Future Holds)

Early Success for The More of Less

The book introduces the world to minimalism by focusing on the benefits of owning less. It explains how possessions fail to produce happiness in our lives—and even worse, how they keep us from joy by hijacking our most important resources (money, time, energy, & focus).

I am proud of the book. It is inspirational, motivational, and practical.

If you are interested in owning less, you’ll find everything you need in The More of Less to get started on your journey. Or, if you’d like to introduce someone else to the benefits of owning less, this book is a helpful guide.

Here’s how Publisher’s Weekly described it:

With action plans, lists, and appeals to the reader’s quiet nature, Becker successfully presents a well-rounded argument that a journey toward minimalism is possible and enjoyable.

I want to offer a special thank you to everyone who supported its release.

At one point, The More of Less was one of the top 10 selling books in America! And some reports indicate local libraries were operating at a 3:1 hold ratio.

After its first week, the book landed on many National Bestseller Lists:

USA Today Bestsellers List: #10 in Nonfiction; #2 in Self-Help

Publisher’s Weekly: #13 in Hardcover Nonfiction

iBooks: #10 in Nonfiction

Amazon: #1 in Several Categories

Unfortunately, despite outselling many of the other books, The More of Less was not included on the New York Times Bestseller List. I’m a little bummed, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to come close.

The book sold well over 10,000 copies in its first week and 2,000 copies in its second week. In total, in its first 20 days, it has sold 15,000 copies. That’s a lot of people being introduced to the concept of minimalism.

And while a book’s first week is typically the best chance to make the NYT list, anything can still happen in the future.

Speaking of the future…

Playing the Long Game (and How You Can Help)

I’ve learned a lot about traditional publishing over the last 18 months. I’ve learned about the book-writing process, how book distribution works, how bestseller lists are compiled, and how books get sold.

Generally speaking, there are three types of books: 1) Books that never sell. 2) Books that sell on release, but quickly lose momentum and fall off the radar. And 3) Books that gain momentum and continue to have impact into the future.

The goal, certainly, for The More of Less is that it would become a book that continues to have impact in people’s lives—not just in its first three weeks, but well into the future as well.

There are some good signs of that already occurring—it continues to rank among the top-selling books on Amazon, the published reviews for the book are overwhelmingly positive, and the West Coast Book Tour already boasts 1,000+ RSVP’s.

All the signs are good—for which, I am very thankful.

The joy of owning less is an important message in our society today. As long as people need to hear it, I intend to promote it and write about it.

Indeed, many of you can attest to the freedom and empowerment found in minimalism.

If you would like to help “play the long game” and keep The More of Less as a book of influence in our world, here are three things you can do to help:

Leave a positive review on Amazon (or any online retailer). If you’ve read the book and enjoyed it, your rating and positive review will help future readers recognize the potential benefit of the book in their life as well.

Share the book with a friend. If you enjoyed the book, give it to a friend—seriously, just pass along your copy. If you think the book has value for your wider network of friends and family, mention it on Facebook and the influence it has had in your life. More and more people are drawn to the notion of owning less—sometimes, they just need to hear others have already taken the step.

Purchase a copy at your local bookstore. If you haven’t had opportunity to read the book yet, it centers on many of the themes here on Becoming Minimalist (minimalism, intentionality, generosity). But the book format allows opportunity to dive deeper into each of those topics. If you’ve been waiting, your purchase over the next couple weeks will help keep the book on shelves and in the forefront of conversations. You can also find it online almost everywhere (Amazon | B&N | Books A Million | CBD).

The Future of Becoming Minimalist

The publishing of this book does not change my commitment to Becoming Minimalist or the community that has grown around it. I look forward to continue writing about this topic and others into the future.

Thank you for being an important part of it.

About Joshua Becker

Writer. Inspiring others to live more by owning less.WSJ Bestselling author of The More of Less.

If you feel that way, I would simply say: just skip this type of post if you begin to feel that way as you’re reading it. But since you already read it, let me offer another perspective…

While I do not have my own book out (yet), I have friends who are successful authors, and the reality is this:

(1) Very few of them enjoy self-promotion (actually most loathe it), but when your book releases, you are expected to promote it on various platforms, including personal blogs and social media. This type of promotion is even written in some/most of their contracts; and, if they don’t abide, they are essentially breaking their contract.

(2) Joshua blogs. He puts his words online for you to read, free, and has for years. But he puts in hours of his own time (unpaid) to craft his posts. It might take you four minutes to read a post, but he likely spent a minimum of four hours writing, editing, and rethinking its structure.

(3) I understand not wanting to have something sold to you, but this is his online space, and, quite frankly, he has bills to pay just as everyone. It’s not like he’s hitting you up for cash every week or plastering his blog’s white space with AdSense ads to monetize every bit of traffic that comes through. The book promotion will die down, but his message will remain.

As a writer, I get a little annoyed when someone complains that a blogger is asking for a reader to purchase a book when they have already provided you so much content for free as is.

(4) This post doesn’t reek of a self-serving attitude. Sure, he wants people to buy his book. What author doesn’t.

(5) And lastly, writing a book is like birthing a child. Once it’s out in the wild, you want to see it succeed. You have to fight for it. Because you know what happens if you don’t? No second book deal. You are seen as a flop and a publisher won’t touch you with a ten foot pole.

And what’s more: the message you were promoting, in this case minimalism, is now face down in the water.

Best of luck with your book’s continued success Joshua. Thank you for writing it and allowing us a chance to read it.

Congratulations on both writing and successfully publishing this excellent book, which helps expand the message and merits of minimalism. I believe if the first commenter knew more of your admirable, philanthropic efforts, she’d know that reasonable promotion will only further enable you to continue your good work. All the best!

Haven’t received the book yet Joshua.
Enjoying the course very much whilst waiting for the book to arrive.
Where else could I take part in a course like you’re running just for the price of a book? Nowhere I’m sure.
Also I’m able to write to you & receive an answer to whatever I’m asking.
As I’m already a fairly minimalist person by nature, im looking forward to learning even more.

Joshua, I JUST received my copy on Friday (here in Finland!) I’m so excited about this book! ???? Is there a forth thing to do? I mean translating the book into other languages, like I might want to translate into Finnish? What is your opinion about this? I’m sure the Finns would love this book. People here in Northern Europe find minimalistic ideas very interesting and fascinating at the moment and there is a true need for a book like yours. (English is not our official language so translation would be needed).

I have received the book and look forward to delving into it! I was a part of your first Uncluttered course and heard you say you had to fight for the cover not to be two empty chairs on a beach. I think the empty suitcase cover is perfect! Because with becoming minimalist we get rid of a lot of “baggage” – physical, mental and emotional! Congratulations and I look forward to what the future brings!

All the very best Joshua, honestly you do deserve it, i love your blog so much i look forward to it every week, i think you need to proud of yourself for your new book it is an achievement for you and your family, i know your not self boasting, but to promote yourself is necessary, only a fool would sit back and just let it happen, you have to live in reality,
all the very best to you and your family
love Jacqueline xxx

Thanks Joshua for sharing your journey with us. Since I stumbled upon your blog and website, I have become more of a believer in minimalism. I have always believed that my outward environment reflected to a large degree my internal state. That being said you have provided the encouragement, inspiration and practicality to move forward in decluttering my home and my life. For me, this has become a part of my journey as a Christ follower. I, also, have been encouraging others to look into their own lives and explore the concepts of minimalism. Thanks again, Joshua.

Am thoroughly enjoying your book, Joshua. But after reading your posts for a while now, that was no surprise to me. Will definitely be leaving a review on Amazon. Thank you for not keeping your good ideas to yourself.

Joshua, Thank you so much for your book, ” The More of Less. ” I quickly read through it in and it truly has changed my life! I am also going through the Uncluttered Course and just love all the encouragement and helpful ideas you offer us. What a difference it has already made in our home! We were blessed to have our children and grandchildren stay with us this weekend. It was wonderful having so much clutter already removed from our home! My husband is reading your book now and happy about our new life. I once was a Packrat Clutter and now I am free!!!!!

Just stopping by your blog to say thank you for writing such a wonderful book. I am completely new to minimalism and really struggling with letting go of all my clutter. Reading your book was educational and gave me the motivation I needed to get things going. It is a brilliant book in more ways than I can express.

I enjoyed it very much and I can see myself reading it again and again and again.

Thank you SO very much for writing this book. It’s amazing to me in ways that I find difficult to explain in this single comment.
Thanks again.

Joshua,
I have struggled with (mostly sentimental) clutter for many years. Now that our children are grown and my husband and I are planning to downsize, I have been feeling panicked and overwhelmed about all that I have to do before we can move.
I spoke with my priest a couple of years ago about this problem of feeling buried with clutter, and he said, “Take care of this (tapping the side of his head) and the clutter will take care of itself.”
I didn’t understand what he meant (hmmm…..was he saying I’m crazy?????????) until I watched a few of your YouTube videos and began reading your blog. Aha!
Seeing it from the point of view of Jesus’ exhortations to “give all away and follow Me”, I am now gaining momentum.
Thank you, and God bless you!